I am happy to hear the Catholic Church is facing reality and acknowledging the existence, within society — and, presumably, within the clergy itself — of halfway-decent gay people ("Vatican moves to welcome gays," Orlando Sentinel, Tuesday).

This current movement at the synod in Rome gives me hope, although I remain mostly skeptical of any real change in the rules, since it has already been declared that gays have lots of talent, and make excellent caregivers, but still aren't up to snuff in the spirit business. "Love the sinner, hate the sin" reigns supreme.

But a modicum of tolerance is progress, and I will give credit where credit is due: Forced by stagnation and the harsh media response to the sex-abuse scandal, the Catholic Church is openly facing all of its sexual demons, in some sort of a revivalist-humiliation moment, and, in the process, helping Christian communities, from Utah to Uganda, face the harsher facts of human sexuality and cultural prejudice.

As skeptical as I remain, I am still hopeful, and grateful for the courageous leaders in the Catholic Church who are currently supporting gay rights. Gay people speaking up, and their straight allies in schools and churches, are making things better for gays; our lives are unquestionably filled with more compassion than ever before.

Some call this new shift toward compassion political correctness — probably because they have never lived without the comforts conformity confers.

I just love the thinking of those in charge of deciding where dispensaries for medical marijuana should be sited. Let's by all means place them where criminals are more likely to be comfortable than patients who are disabled and/or in serious pain.

Many of these patients will be frail and older or, in some cases, children.

Let's be realistic: People who want illegal drugs will get them. All that has happened so far in the latest "war against drugs" is to make life more difficult for patients who need the relief. The headlines may look good, but the real story is seldom told.

The anti-legalization group is composed mainly of Big Pharma, which fears losing money, and law-enforcement agencies, which will no longer be able to confiscate cash and property to support their big guns and armored vehicles.

It would be wonderful if, just once, the people I vote into office would work for my benefit. I'm sorry that I can't afford to donate enough cash to buy their election, but I do vote, and learned in school that voting was what made our nation great.

What a joke, but I'm not laughing.

Margaret WestgateOrlando

Hitt ups the ante on savvy fundraising

Beth Kassab's column in Thursday's Sentinel on how fundraising experience is playing a major role in selecting university presidents made me think back to the early '80s.

In his third year as president, Trevor Colbourn interviewed me for director of Alumni Affairs and Development for the University of Central Florida Foundation. He had three goals: Change the name from FTU to UCF, which he had already done; make the struggling football program a success; and raise funds.

After I was hired, I made the rounds to dozens of community leaders and corporation and foundation executives to tell them UCF was going to ratchet up fundraising. To my surprise, I kept hearing this one recurring comment: "UCF is state supported; the private colleges need philanthropy dollars, not UCF." When I reported this back to Colbourn, he was in shock.

In reviewing the university's budget, we found that only 42 percent came from the state. So we made the case for giving in quarter-page ads in the Orlando Sentinel over five weeks, thanking ad sponsor Starling Chevrolet. We made the case that UCF was state "assisted," not state supported, and that philanthropic gifts provided the margin of excellence at UCF.

Fast-forward to today and President John Hitt: The UCF Foundation board and staff have raised $66 million toward a 2017 goal of $500 million. Imagine the fundraising resume presidential candidates will need once Hitt retires and a search begins.

Jim DonovanSanford

Ebola multiplied

Have you noticed how many resources are needed to treat Ebola? Nurses, doctors, drugs, blood transfusions, hazmat equipment and quarantine space, just for two patients.

There is an old saying in engineering, "Quantity overwhelms all systems." What happens if the number of patients rises to 100? Or, heaven forbid, 10,000? There is no way the quality of care can remain the same. We need restrictions on who can enter this country or risk a breakdown as the Ebola count rises.

Gary BondMaitland

Disney-Bondi link

As a Disney shareholder and long-time supporter, I was stunned to see a $50,000 donation to the election campaign for Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. She is wasting taxpayer money fighting gay marriage in a state where public opinion already favors it.

Why would a wonderful company like Disney support someone who is trying to take away basic human rights for Florida residents, many of whom are Disney employees?